Word Origin & History

tamper 1567, figurative use of tamper "to work in clay, etc., so as to mix it thoroughly," probably originally a variant of temper (q.v.), which is how it was initially spelled. Perhaps it is a dialectal workmen's pronunciation. Tamperproof is recorded from 1886.

Example Sentences for tamper

How she valued her own life had been proved; but his—she had no right to tamper with it.

I will not allow any stranger to tamper with our Silver Spider!

Make sure that nobody can tamper with your pistol or cartridges.

Her desk was locked, and it would not be safe to tamper with it.

I asked, now thoroughly uneasy; had her recklessness gone so far as to lead her to tamper with the Commandments?

Recollect how far you are from home, and do not tamper with yourself.

But tamper with the property of my successor I cannot and will not.

Yes, Masticator was going too far—and how had he managed to tamper with my index?

"I would rather not tamper with punctuation and spelling," said Hester, dryly.